1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ornamental cover panel provided in an interior of a vehicle such as that of an automobile, particularly to a cover panel having a lighting device thereinside for illuminating the vehicle interior.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, as this type of a cover panel provided in a vehicle interior, there has been proposed a cover panel fixed on an instrument panel. The instrument panel makes up a front of the vehicle interior, i.e., a front of a driver's seat, a center console and a front of a passenger's seat. Also the instrument panel holds various meters such as a speed meter or the like, and an air outlet for an air-conditioner and a globe box or the like are installed in the instrument panel.
Color tone and texture of the instrument panel are coordinated according to types of automobiles and users' preferences. For example, using the instrument panel made of black hard-synthetic resin may create a relaxed atmosphere in the vehicle interior. Moreover, in order to add an accent to a thus coordinated atmosphere, an ornamental panel may be integrated with a part of the instrument panel. The ornamental panel can give an accent to an aspect of the instrumental panel by employing an aluminum tone or a woody tone therein to enable a different atmosphere to be created in the vehicle interior.
With respect to the vehicle interior in the atmosphere thus coordinated, some users desire to differentiate their vehicles from others' ones and to go for their originalities. It is, however, difficult to meet this kind of user's desire by modifying the ornamental panel due to the integral formation of the ornamental panel with the instrument panel.
Therefore, a cover panel is further used which is fixed on the surface of the instrumental panel or ornamental panel by a double-stick tape or the like. By fixing this cover panel on the surface of a part of the instrument panel, the preliminarily coordinated vehicle interior atmosphere as the aforementioned can be changed, so that the users can readily change an atmosphere of the vehicle interior to suit their tastes.
Additionally, in late years, an instrument panel is desired to make a vehicle interior more distinctive not only by changing the color tone and the texture on the surface of the panel but also by providing a lighting device, the lighting device being used not only as a vehicle interior lighting but also as illuminations.
As a conventional art in which a lighting device is used as illuminations, one disclosure (e.g., Japanese unexamined patent publication No. 2006-76557) can be found where a lighting device with a light guiding capability is arranged in a vehicle interior front section formed by a front glass and a side glass behind the front glass and is disposed in an instrument panel located at a lower side of the front glass.
According to the above conventional art, a step acting as a mounting seat is provided in the instrument panel and then the lighting device is disposed inside the step, so that such an effect can be exerted that lighting does not directly come into the view of a driver sitting in a front seat of the vehicle interior.
However, the conventional art has the problem of lack of versatility because as being disposed on the step preliminarily formed on the instrument panel, the lighting device cannot be disposed on an instrument panel without a step.